Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 22, 1993 TAG: 9304220119
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Early Friday morning after the Guns N' Roses concert at the Roanoke Civic Center, a 19-year-old woman claimed she was sexually molested by two members of the group's entourage while most of the band looked on.
She complained to Roanoke police, who questioned the two men. But she has not formally charged the pair because she fears that her name would be reported by the media in what could become a high-profile case.
The incident raises questions. Who is responsible for the safety of fans allowed backstage at concerts? What should be done to prevent future problems? Is there a different standard for rock groups like Guns N' Roses that glamorize boys-will-be-boys behavior?
The answers are far from clear.
A spokesman for Guns N' Roses said the group's manager, Doug Goldstein, is taking the charges seriously and will conduct an investigation.
"Then he'll take whatever steps are necessary," said Bryn Bridenthal, the band's publicist with Geffen Records in Los Angeles. She added: "If this is true, this is intolerable behavior."
Bridenthal would not specify what disciplinary actions Goldstein might take.
Nor would she admit any wrongdoing on the part of the band or its entourage. "In any situation there are always several versions of the truth," she said.
She also denied that women were given backstage passes after being videotaped in the audience and picked by band members on closed-circuit television monitors.
"There's just no need for a band member to try that hard to meet pretty girls," Bridenthal said.
Bridenthal could not say when Goldstein might decide whether to take any disciplinary action. Guns N' Roses is playing concerts in Mexico all this week.
She emphasized that accusations against the band are common, often falsely originating from celebrity gold diggers and attention grabbers. She said such charges are viewed by the band's management with suspicion.
Bobby Melatti, the promoter for the Roanoke concert, echoed Bridenthal and cautioned against believing every Guns N' Roses horror story. "Maybe she didn't get to meet Axl Rose and got angry? Who knows?"
At the same time, Melatti, who works with Cellar Door Concert Productions in Virginia Beach, was disturbed by the allegations. He said: "If this did happen, it's reprehensible, it's wrong and it's against the law."
Melatti then would place blame squarely on the band.
Elsewhere, arena managers who have hosted recent Guns N' Roses dates differ about where responsibility lies when something goes wrong. Some said promoters are partly responsible.
"That's our feeling in Omaha," said Stan Benis at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Neb., where Guns N' Roses played April 10. "The promoter has a lot to do with what goes on."
Other arena managers said accountability ultimately comes back to them.
"Everything under our roof is our responsibility," said Ned Collett at the Dean E. Smith Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The group played there the night after Roanoke.
Either way, most of the managers said, the performers also have a duty to behave themselves. Arena managers, backstage security, uniformed police - none of them can control what goes on inside a private dressing room, the managers said.
Bob Chapman, manager of the Roanoke Civic Center, agreed.
However, Chapman said he wanted to read a police report of the incident before drawing any conclusions. He avoided a response when pressed on the accountability question.
Legally, Roanoke is on solid ground, according to City Attorney Will Dibling. "The legal situation is that we rented a private room to a promoter. The city has no liability whatsoever."
Dibling equated the Guns N' Roses incident to the Mike Tyson rape case. In the Tyson case, he said the hotel where the rape occurred was not held responsible for the boxer's actions inside his own room. The same principle applies here.
Outside the dressing room is another story. At other arenas, some building managers said they post their own in-house security directly outside the dressing rooms. Others said they bring in uniformed police officers to stand guard.
However, such precautions are far from typical. Most performers do not want uniformed security backstage. They prefer "T-shirt" security instead, and their contracts often specify that only T-shirt security be allowed backstage.
Guns N' Roses is said to be particularly adamant on this point.
At last week's concert, there was a combination of T-shirt and uniformed security backstage. None, though, was inside the band's hospitality room, which led to the dressing rooms.
Access to those rooms was controlled solely by people who travel with the band.
Chapman said he would evaluate the civic center's backstage security arrangements and he may consider using uniformed police officers more to monitor "meet-and-greet" sessions with performers.
But Chapman cautioned against imposing too many restrictions on allowing women and other guests into private rooms. That could lead to Roanoke's getting blacklisted on future concert bookings. "We're asking for real trouble when we do that," he said.
Vern Danielsen, chairman of the Civic Center Commission, also expressed reservations about reacting too quickly. "We want to make sure that the people's rights are upheld and that they aren't violated."
He said he would not recommend any policy changes for future concerts, as long as no formal charges are filed in the Guns N' Roses incident. "I don't feel then that it was serious enough for me to initiate action."
by CNB